Paddling at the beach with Melanie |
Melanie and Derek next to the statue commemorating the victims of terrorism |
March turned out to be
visitors’ month. First we had our friends Melanie and Derek, who almost didn’t
make it due to the bad weather in the UK. They missed their original flight after being
snowed in on the A23, but managed to get away a couple of days later. They only
stayed with us for two days and it rained steadily for one of them, but we were able to fit in a visit to the
underwater archaeological museum, (which was brilliant, even with a hangover),
then a seafood lunch at the beach the
next day, followed by a quick paddle in the sea.
Gina out on the headland |
Gina arrived next and
stayed for a week. Gina is a keen archaeologist and was interested in finding
out more about Cartagena’s history. We left Cliff working on the boat while we visited
the main archaeological museum (a bit of a disappointment), then the Roman
Theatre and the Roman baths, which I had seen before, but enjoyed even more a
second time round. We also took the bikes for a ride around the bay and stopped
at the beach for a paddle, quickly confirming it was still too cold to swim!
Nigel walking at Puerto de Portman |
Float in the Holy Week procession |
Men, women and children of all ages take part in the processions, dressing in traditional costumes that date back to the 17th century and pushing or carrying ornate floats that tell the story of Christ’s Passion. The floats carry religious sculptures and are decorated with literally thousands of flowers. It was lovely to see the children taking it all so seriously, marching in time to the drums, or handing out sweets to the crowds. We were also fascinated by the costumes, especially the strange pointed hoods of the penitents which reminded us of the Klu Klux Klan.
Roman soldiers of all ages! |
The Penitents |
A special thank you to all of our visitors for making the effort to come and see us, and for bringing out much needed supplies, ranging from a spare sensor for the gas detector to packets of Assam tea!
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